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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27128746">You Must Have Been Looking For Me</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/marimarinaranara'>marimarinaranara (orphan_account)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Homestuck</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Affection, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Cuddling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Loss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 19:21:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,006</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27128746</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/marimarinaranara</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Silence is golden, except the type of silence that occurs when you mention your living best friend’s dead best friend and sibling.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>June Egbert/Dave Strider, Rose Lalonde &amp; Dave Strider</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>You Must Have Been Looking For Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was at about 11 PM, on a late weekend night, when Dave Strider realized that he was a pretty messed-up, lazy, slob.</p><p>Of course, in that moment, he tried to push it away and not give the conclusion any second thoughts, but it still lingered in the back of his head. He distracted himself as best he could, paying more attention to the open window beside his bed, and the girl beside him loudly talking about one of her strange and obscure interests. Outside seemed so nice right now - the thick summer scent poured into the room. The sun was setting, the sky was a bright orange, it just seemed so gentle. Dave got lost in the clouds as he continued to daydream about the great outdoors, before that was interrupted.</p><p>“Dave? Daaaaaaaaave.” The soft voice called out to him, and he quickly pushed his shades up in acknowledgement. “Are you still in there?”</p><p>“I feel like you’re more focused on the sky - the one you see like.. every single day - and not on me! I am the one explaining every single piece of Hocus Pocus lore, not the open window!” June giggled while she yelled, just to make sure Dave knew she was joking, and rocked back and forth. “Kidding, kidding. You don’t have to listen anyway, it’s just nice to go interrupted for a little bit while I say whatever the heck is on my mind.”</p><p>Strider moved forward, propping himself up on his elbow and leaning on his pillow. “I was listening for most of it, I just got a little.. sidetracked. Calm down dude.”</p><p>“Dude? Calm down? I’m completely calm you freak!”</p><p>“Would you rather me say ‘shut up weirdo’ or something?”</p><p>..And then he got wacked in the head with a pillow. </p><p>“Actually, no I would NOT rather you say that.” June held up a finger to prove a point, but she really just looked like an offbrand Kankri. Karkat would probably hate it with all of his being. “Why do you hate successful women like me? Tell me, quickly.”</p><p>Dave wagged the pillow off of his chest, like a wet dog, and put his hands up in defense. “I don’t hate women! I love all women. I am a feminist, in fact.” He moved to form a w-shape with one hand, and a finger heart with the other. Strider stuck his tongue out and laughed coolly. “See? Women lover.”</p><p>“Right.” As she searched for words to say, she put her hands on her hips and puffed her chest out. “I’m sure that Rose would make fun of you for that, or high five you even! She is a woman lover too after all, you know.”</p><p>Oh.</p><p>Realizing that she might have just fucked up slightly, June covered her mouth quickly and bit her tongue. Muffled, she squeaked out. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought the mood down like that - sorry sorry sorry.” She stuffed her head in her hands and flopped backward on the bed, sighing sharply. </p><p>Dave just shook his head, chuckling awkwardly.</p><p>Rose had died a couple months back.</p><p>Christ, they all knew it was coming, but not so... soon. He had taken it the hardest, considering that she was nothing but kind and tender towards him, treating Dave like a real, loved brother. Rose helped him with practically everything that took a wrong turn in his life, and he in return took care of her once she grew weak and sickly. Kanaya was there alongside him too, but after the funeral she hadn’t spoken to any of them much. </p><p>The boy glanced over to his nightstand, a portrait of Lalonde smiling and a vase of yellow flowers adorned the smooth brown wood top. He scoffed and looked away.</p><p>“It’s fine, June.”</p><p>She sat up so her legs hung over the edge of the bedframe, a guilty expression plastered across her face. He went quiet now, hands pressing deeply into the mattress as the thickly shaded pair of eyes stared with intensity at the ground below them.</p><p>She tugged at the collar of her sweatshirt, clearing her throat and playing a beat on her thighs with her hands to make some background noise. </p><p>Silence is golden in most cases, except the type of silence that occurs when you mention your living best friend’s dead best friend and sibling. </p><p>That guilty expression slowly faded though, as she watched Dave lean over to lay his head on her lap. She couldn’t see his face, but June knew that he was sad. Her hand made its way to his shoulder, thumb rubbing small and comforting circles over top of the thin fabric his shirt was made out of. Egbert’s farthest two fingers were at the seam of his sleeve, the tip of her pinky finger brushing his bare forearm. He flinched, but just as she was about to take her hand away, relaxed again. June sighed in relief, squeezing her eyes shut for a minute just to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.</p><p>After a couple minutes, one eye popped open. Still there? Yeah, the other eye can peek too now. And Dave was still there too, so that’s good.</p><p>The silence was a bit more comfortable now, two broken friends enjoying nothing but each other’s company.</p><p>Friends. </p><p>Eugh, don’t think about that right now.</p><p>After what seemed like forever, he sat back up, smiling a little bit. “Thank you, I’ll be right back.” Dave got up and dusted himself off, shuddering a little bit and walking faster now to make sure he didn’t get stopped.</p><p>Wait - is that a tear?</p><p>She snatched his wrist and yanked him back to where she was sitting, and he looked down at June, confused and very obviously alarmed. “What was that for? I said I was going to be right back-”</p><p>“Don’t play that game with me Dave Strider. You’re crying, come here and just speak to me for once!” Pushing herself back farther on the bed, June allowed space for Dave to climb back over.</p><p>He pulled his hand away and clenched it, irritated. “I do not remember asking you for orders. If I was, it wouldn’t MATTER anyway.”</p><p>“But, your feelings do matter! They matter to me..”</p><p>“Well, they didn’t matter to anyone for a long time now! Why should that change today?”</p><p>The pain in Dave’s voice pushed through and he choked on his words. June jumped, eyebrows furrowing into a hurt gaze as she stared at him in shock.</p><p>At last, the smooth, rose-cheeked boy that she knew had finally snapped in half. The words that dripped from his mouth like smooth honey went askew and wrenched in different directions, like the sound that comes out when you slam all your fingers on a piano. The cracks in Strider’s voice were pained, and sorrowful, broken pieces of his bottled up feelings at her feet.</p><p>Now what was she supposed to do?</p><p>Dave breathed shallowly, the rising and falling of his shoulders getting more jerky as they turned into quiet sobs. June recollected herself and grabbed his hand again, pulling him towards her. This time he came willingly, too weak to protest or do any drastic 180s. She had seen him like this now, and it wasn’t just going to “go away..” as much as he wanted it to. She pulled him into her lap and let Dave sit there for a minute, not wanting to touch him or make him even more upset.</p><p>Then a tender hand reached up to take off his shades.</p><p>They slipped off with ease, and in reality, it wasn’t anything too special or ritual-like, but for June Egbert, it was like opening up a brand new storybook. His eyes were a deep, rich red, and his face was covered in freckles, two long scars now visible to her. One ran up and down the length of his nose, the other across his eye. They were concerning, but beautiful, and she didn’t even notice the blush that had crept up on her own face. June’s eyes were wide with fascination and curiosity, thumbing away the big crocodile tears that streamed down his face.</p><p>“Are you okay? I didn’t mean to startle you with my um, face or anything.. ahaha.” He spoke up, or at least tried to, giggling a little bit out of sadness.

</p>
<p>“Your face is not scary.” She shrugged and chuckled nervously in return. “I don’t really know how to console people I’ve never seen consoled.”</p><p>“No no, don’t worry.”</p><p>She paused, sucking in her cheeks.</p><p>“You’re beautiful.”</p><p>He raised an eyebrow, yanking his face away and turning to look the opposite direction. “What are you even talking about. June, I’m really concerned for you right now! You seem to be speaking what sounds like some straight up nonsense-”</p><p>“I mean it. Freckles and scars are always the most beautiful, and they look perfect on your skin.”</p><p>Dave slowly whipped his head back around.</p><p>“You really think so?”</p><p>“I know so, Dave.”</p><p>June smiled, quickly blinking back the tears that formed in her eyes. She cupped a hand to his face and nodded, breathing in deeply. Her pointer finger traced the scar on his nose, slightly warmed by the heat that spread from Dave’s cheeks to his whole face. He melted in her hands, cheek pressing up against her hand. He even went as far as gently intertwining his fingers with June’s, holding the hand that was resting on his face in his own.</p><p>“I’ve wanted to say that for.. a really long time, but I didn’t know how’d you react or anything and I got really nervous - like ‘hahahaha what if Dave hates my guts after that?’ Or some silly stuff! Oh god I’m rambling now, crap, sorry, this is a terrible impression on on you probably-”</p><p>“Can I kiss you?”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>She backed her face up, physically and metaphorically taken aback from that statement. Her face was beet red, beads of sweat forming at the back of her neck. Well, what the heck was she supposed to say? It’s not like she had experience or anything in this type of contact, she barely even kissed her pillow, or her movie posters as a child, and now a real human? Thoughts raced around June’s head and she gave up on critical thinking, saying the first thing that came out of her mouth.</p><p>“...um, please?”</p><p>Dave shook his head and went for it, hooking his finger and thumb underneath of her chin and closing the gap between the two. Her eyes shut tightly, holding her breath as she met him right in the middle. </p><p>The kiss was shaky, her arms dropping from his face to clasp around Strider’s neck. June eased into the kiss after a few seconds, all of the awkward tension seeming to fade away in the heat of the moment. Dave’s free arm wrapped around her torso, pulling her closer into a tight embrace. A few stray tears still fell and dripped from both of their chins, but did that really matter now?</p><p>It seemed like it was going to go on forever, before the lovely miss June Egbert remembered she needed to breathe and broke it off. Her breaths were quick, Dave tenderly wiping any remaining droplets of tears from her eyes. </p><p>He broke the silence with another bold statement and an apology that he felt needed to be said. </p><p>“I love you, June.”</p><p>Crickets.</p><p>“I mean - I’m sorry for snapping at you, I didn’t mean to and it was wrong of me - I was just..”</p><p>“Upset?”</p><p>Dave looked up, mouth agape.</p><p>“Believe me, I know how it feels.” June’s voice was smoother and more suave, despite her still looking thoroughly sunburned from the neck up. “It does hurt, my dearest, but you have me, and I have you.”</p><p>“I love you too, and I really mean it.”</p><p>One last time, June took his wrist, sticking out her pinky finger and interlocking it with his to make a promise.</p><p>Truly.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi! I hope you enjoyed this, I made it in about an hour and a half with my only fuel being the little.. episode I had over June/Dave the previous night and my amazing power of projection.</p><p> I apologize if the end looks rushed, I did this with like... no planning whatsoever HAHA. So much for my first published Homestuck work! Again, I hope you liked it. They are literally so freaking amazing...</p></blockquote></div></div>
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